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Personally I think math requirement is like a sieve to filter out those who are really too weak. Employers want to have that kind of sieves for degree earners.
So it is not about what you want, but about what you can.
This^
I think if one is unable to pass intermediate algebra, one is too stupid to work in a white collar field. The algebra requirement also weeds out tons of people seeking to earn worthless degrees on the government dime as well. It's better to crush these individuals dreams in the first couple quarters, than to allow them to rack up 50k in dept to receive a psychology degree without the grades to go to grad school.
Nobody needs to be working at Starbucks with that amount of dept.
I don't see any connection between these things. Nobody who stops algebra because they are really bad at it and it isn't required would have gone on to be a qualified engineer.
Those jobs will be done by machines anyway.
If you don't require it in school, many young kids won't learn, and may regret later. If the standards are low, people won't know if they are really good or bad.
No I'm a CS major I can tell you the job market for programmers is still expanding.
If you don't require it in school, many young kids won't learn, and may regret later. If the standards are low, people won't know if they are really good or bad.
Yeah... well... maybe, but I think the borderline students are very unlikely to go on to make important contributions in tech. And if people who are really good at math just stop doing it out of laziness then we've got bigger problems.
Quote:
No I'm a CS major I can tell you the job market for programmers is still expanding.
Some in the field seem to think AI will be doing all the programming within a few years.
I don't think it's necessary to know algebra for many fields in the humanities, arts, etc, but it absolutely must be for anything related to science, medicine, engineering, etc.
Not everyone is meant to go to or complete college, but American society pushes it, in large part because it's a great money maker for universities, and the banks that hold college loans. After they started to push people of low ambition and ability to go get a degree, even if they were never going to use it, they pretty much had to start lowering requirements for prospective students, or creating all sorts of exemptions to things that would have otherwise barred them from spending 100/200k.
Algebra is used as a weed out course. If you can't do what is basically middle school math, you probably are not cut out for a college education. Reducing academic standards so that everyone can get a degree regardless of ability just waters down the degree and creates credential inflation.
When I see basic clerical jobs that a middle school kid could that pays $12 an hour requiring a bachelors is proof of credential inflation.
I’ll go tell them you said they aren’t PhDs, then.
Please do so. And stop telling everyone an EdD is a PhD. They're not the same thing. At all.
FWIW, one of my kids' friends teaches AP Physics. He has a BS in Physics and later went to Ed School for his teaching credentials. He has 2 degrees, but neither is a PhD.
I don't think it's necessary to know algebra for many fields in the humanities, arts, etc, but it absolutely must be for anything related to science, medicine, engineering, etc.
Not everyone is meant to go to or complete college, but American society pushes it, in large part because it's a great money maker for universities, and the banks that hold college loans. After they started to push people of low ambition and ability to go get a degree, even if they were never going to use it, they pretty much had to start lowering requirements for prospective students, or creating all sorts of exemptions to things that would have otherwise barred them from spending 100/200k.
Yes. As I said before, there should be only 9 years' general education. Those who have terrible scores should exit after grade 9 and go to vocational schools, or start to work.
That being said, a student should learn some algebra by grade 9, at least be able to solve the simplest equations and know what square root means.
Yes. As I said before, there should be only 9 years' general education. Those who have terrible scores should exit after grade 9 and go to vocational schools, or start to work.
That being said, a student should learn some algebra by grade 9, at least be able to solve the simplest equations and know what square root means.
They actually need to know more than many think. For example, cubic units of volume for those working with concrete/cement, landscaping materials, etc. That's x^3.
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